Bracing construction



Nov. 24, 1970 H. JOST L BRACING CONSTRUCTION 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledApril 5, 1968 Nov. 24, 1970 JOST ETAL BRACING CONSTRUCTION 6Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 5, 1968 4 JI Q L 1 Nov. 24, 1970 H.JOST ETAL3,541,799

BRACING CONSTRUCTION Filed April 5, 1968 v 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 All Amp!

H. JOST ET L BRACING CONSTRUCTION Nov. 24, 1970 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 FiledApril 5, 1968 NM mm km S M mm 0 a. VWMHHHHH NH m H I w Wm UM 2 i? KwiNov; 24, 1970 H. JOST ETAL BRACING CONSTRUCTION Sheets-Sheet 6 FiledApril 5, 1968 ML "w United States Patent O1 Efice 3,541,799 PatentedNov. 24, 1970 zerland Filed Apr. 5, 1968, Ser. No. 719,004 Claimspriority, application Switzerland, Apr. 7, 1967,

4,973 Int. Cl. E21d 19/00; E02f 3/ 62 US. CI. 61-41 3 Claims ABSTRACT OFTHE DISCLOSURE A car rolling on rails located on either side of a ditchmounts three crosspieces which support bracing wall-s that are free toroll over the ditch walls as the car progresses.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to bracingconstructions for the walls of excavations and which move in tempo withthe progress of the work in the excavation.

In the prior-art bracing constructions of this kind, the bracing partswere constructed as pressure links that served to hold the panel-likebracing elements in position in front of the construction. As a movableconstruction was advanced in step with the progress of the bracing work,the bracing elements located behind the construction had to be removedby hand and set in front.

The amount of bracing work that could be done was largely dependent onthe number of available hands, who were required to transfer the bracingelements from the rear to the front of the construction. Apart from thenumber of employees thus required, the bracing work was expensive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is a bracingconstruction that appreciably reduces the amount of manual labor, lowerslabor costs, and raises worker efliciency.

This object, and further objects, of the invention will be apparent fromthe ensuing detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will be described withreference to the figures of the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of the invention, with the front ditchwall removed;

FIG. 2 is a view taken along line II-II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic top view;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the upper part seen in FIG. 2, the leftlongitudinal member and the wheels being left out and the flanges of thetwo vertical support members being removed;

FIG. 5 is a partly broken away top view of the parts shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line VIVI of FIGS. 7 and 8;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line VIIVII of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line VIIIVIII of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a partly cut away view showing the arrangement for adjustingthe height of a crosspiece;

FIG. 10 is a view in section on enlarged scale taken along line XX ofFIG. 4;

FIG. 11 is a view on enlarged scale of the front portion of a bracingwall taken in the direction of the arrow XIXI of FIG. 3;

FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along line XIIXII of FIG. 11; and

FIG. 13 is a sectional view, corresponding to FIG. 12, taken at thecenter crosspiece.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference to the figures,the bracing construction of the invention includes a car 1 that rolls onwheel 3 over rails 2, which are supported on respective sides of theditch 4 by jacks 5, whereby the car 1 spans the ditch along a lengththere, as shown in FIG. 2, and can be driven the entire length of theditch by any suitable vehicle. The car is essentially constructed ofthree crosspieces, 6, 7, and 8 and four longitudinal members 9, 10 and11, 12, which laterally connect together the crosspieces 6, 7, and 8.The longitudinal members are built as trusses and bolted at their endsto the respective crosspieces by bolts 13, as shown in FIG. 5. Thecrosspieces are frame members composed of an outer frame 14 havinglongitudinal chords 15 and 16 connected together by a series ofstilfening members 17. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 9, each end of eachcrosspiece 6, 7, and 8 mounts an adjustable supporting means 18 having avertical, unthreaded pipe 22 slidably supported in a stationary guide 20and incorporating a series of horizontal bores 19. The upper end of thepipe is held in a nut 21 fixed to a stiffening member 17a. A supportincorporating a foot 23 and through bores (not visible in the figures),which correspond to the bores 19, is telescoped in the pipe 22. By meansof a bolt, not shown, each foot 23 can be locked at any one of severalvertical positions with respect to its crosspiece. This constitutes thecoarse adjustment.

The fine adjustment of the vertical position is obtained by means of thenut 21 and a screw 24 threaded therein. The screw is prevented at itsupper end from moving axially by a shoulder 27 held in a block 26, whichis closed by a plate 25 and mounted on the longitudinal chord 15 byscrews 28. The screw head 29 is exposed and can be turned by a suitabletool. When the car 1 is to be mounted at the site by means of thecrosspieces 6, 7, and 8 connected to the longitudinal members 9, 10, 11,and 12, the center crosspiece is first of all set up on its feet 23 andits position adjusted by coarse and fine adjustment so that the chords15 and 16 are horizontal. Subsequently, the members '9, 10, 11, and 12are connected to the crosspiece 7 by the bolt 13 and their positionadjusted with respect to the rails 2, which latter must define ahorizontal plane. Finally, the two end crosspieces 6 and 8 are connectedto the members 9-12.

An individual, vertical bracing frame 30, of which the width can beadjusted, is suspended from each of the inner sides of the two endcrosspieces 6 and 8 and the two sides of the center crosspiece 7. Eachbracing frame 30 incorporates two vertical support members 32, connectedtogether by two extensible frames 31, comprised each of two pairs oftelescopic pipes 34, 34a connected together by stiffening members 33.The bracing frame is suspended from a crosspiece by means of hooks 37(see FIGS. 5 and 10), which are clamped at the desired position, betweentwo horizontal stiffening members 17, by bolts 35 and plates 36. The twopipes 34 of the upper extensible frame 31 rest on the hooks 37. Thepipes 34a, which have a smaller diameter than the pipes 34, are providedat their exposed ends with a collar 38 having an outer diameter equal tothat of the pipes 34. The pipes 34 and 34a can be extended as desired soas to obtain the desired spacing between the vertical support members 32in dependence on the width of the ditch 4 that is to be braced. Thepipes 34 and 34a are locked in position by pushing bolts (not shown)into the holes 39 (FIG. 5) of these pipes.

A plurality of bracing elements 40 (in FIG. 1: three,

left; two, right) are inserted between two neighboring members 32located on the same side. Each bracing element 40 incorporates a centralsupport 41 essentially comprised of an upper and a lower horizontalcontinuous channel member 42 and 43 (see FIG. 8) held together byV-irons 44 (FIG. 6). Inwardly projecting supports 45 connect eachcentral support 41 to an upper and lower horizontal channel member 46(FIG. 8). As shown in FIG. 11, stiffening braces 47 connect together themembers 46. The two ends of the supports 41 terminate in angle irons 48,which each form a slot that permits the support 41 to be slid on theflanges 32a of two successive vertical support members 32. Each member32 includes at its lower end a stop plate 49 (FIG. 11), which supportsthe lowest of the bracing elements 40. The upper and lower horizontalchannel members 46 of each element 40 incorporates staggered, upwardlyand downwardly projecting V-shaped centering irons 50. An upper bracingelement 40 rests with the centering irons 50 of its lower member 46 onthe centering irons 50 of the upper member 46 of the next lower element40, the neighboring irons 50 adding further prevention againstlongitudinal movement of the bracing elements 40.

Each central support 41 has at each end two oppositely located bearingsupports 51 for a shaft 52. Three sprockets 53 are mounted on eachshaft. A horizontal chain 54 runs over the corresponding sprockets ofeach of the two shafts of a support 41. The chains are composed of links56 pivotal about pins 55 that connect together neighboring links. Ahorizontal roller 57, which is of a size suitable for the spacingbetween adjacent teeth of the sprockets, is mounted on each pin 55. Thepins are each pivotally mounted on two spaced angle irons 58, which arefixed to inwardly projecting wings 59 of respective slat-like bracingparts 60 that extend the entire height of the bracing element 40. Thebracing parts 60 are curved along one edge, whereby the bracing wall 61formed collectively by these parts is continuous even where the Wall isturned through 180 by the sprockets 53, as shown in FIG. 6. A rail 62for each chain strand, extending in the direction of the chain, islocated within each central support 41. The rollers 57 bear on theserails perpendicular to the wall 61. Every second bracing part 60 isconnected to an inwardly projecting vertical support roller 63, whichrolls between two guide plates 64 (except where the chain reversesdirection) fixed to the central support 41, as shown in FIG. 8. Therollers 63 transfer the weight of the bracing wall 61 to the support 41.

A series of plate wedges 65 are mounted on the front face of theforemost vertical support member 32, which wedges are locked in place bybolts 66 that pass through the member 32, as illustrated in FIGS. 11 and12. A double wedge 67, as shown in FIG. 13, is similarly connected tothe pair of members 32 of the two vertical bracing frames 30 suspendedfrom the center crosspiece 7.

As previously mentioned, the described bracing construction is built onthe two rails 2 along the length of the ditch 4 that must be braced,whereby the outer facesthe bracing walls 61of the bracing elements 40contact the ditch walls by simply varying the width of the bracingframes 30. The bracing walls 61 enable a pipe 68 to be laid, forexample, without danger that the ditch walls will collapse. A suitablevehicle, such as a crawler tractor, advances the constructioncontinuously or stepwise over the rails 2. The friction between thebracing wall 61 and the ditch wall causes the bracing element 40 to rollover the latter, so that the bracing keeps in step with the progress ofthe work in the ditch, merely by moving the bracing construction.

The construction of the invention lowers labor costs, increases laborefficiency, and reduces the number of men required in bracing work.

Although the preferred embodiment of the invention has been described,the scope of, and the breadth of protection afforded to, the inventionare limited solely by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Bracing apparatus for use in shoring the walls of excavations,particularly ditches, comprising a vehicle adapted to be advanced alongthe wall of an excavation as the excavation work progresses, a bracingframe structure supported by said vehicle to extend into saidexcavation, said bracing frame structure being disposed transversely tothe direction of movement of said vehicle, at least two spaced verticalshafts supported by said bracing frame structure so as to extend intosaid excavation, link chain sprockets on said shafts, at least twohorizontally disposed endless link chain assemblies cooperating withsaid sprockets, each said link chain assembly including rollers mountedon vertical axes and bearing against a horizontal track supported bysaid structure, bracing means secured to the links of the chains of saidchain assemblies for supporting a wall of an excavation during movementof said vehicle, and support means for supporting the weight of saidbracing means including a plurality of rolling means fixed to at leastsome of said bracing means and horizontal guide means fixed to saidbracing frame structure along which said rolling means roll.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said bracing means comprisevertical slat-like members.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein said slat like membersoverlap so as to form a continuous surface at least in the region wherethey contact the excavation wall.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATEN 1' S 1,267,058 5/1918 Clarkson61-41 X 3,309,799 3/1967 Kinkade 3780 FOREIGN PATENTS 279,732 5/ 1967Australia.

OTHER REFERENCES DAS 1,123,988 February 1962, German printed applicationto Bender.

JACOB SHAPIRO, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 3784; 6163, 72.1, 72.5

